The Namikaze Legacy
by HaiseKanekiV2
Summary: What if the masked man didn't attack until 4 years later, and Minato got to live for an extra 4 years? What would he have changed? And what if Naruto knew of his heritage all along and was born with a rare powerful long thought forgotten in the Elemental Nations? Prodigy!Naruto. Non!Jinchuriki!Naruto. - I'm not great at previews, but at least give it a chance haha
1. Fate

**This is my first Naruto story in many years. Now, I do expect some flames and negative reviews, but please make them to where I can learn from my mistakes. I'm not perfect, nor am I a professional writer. I do this for fun. Now, this is a story I came up with when watching Naruto Shippuden. I thought "Hmm, how did Ashura go from having no strength, to suddenly being able to take on a Perfect Susanoo"** **It definitely wasn't purely friendship, I'll tell you that much.**

 **And I was also wondering why Naruto barely seemed to get any inheritance from Ashura until the sage granted him the truth-seeking balls. ANYWAYS, no more ranting. I hope you enjoy the story. I've changed a few things which will be further fleshed out through the rest of the story (such as the history of the ninja and the fact that there aren't any freaking aliens in this story)**

 **Enjoy**

 **X.X.X.X.X..X.X.X.X.**

"Isn't he cute?"

A blonde haired man sat down silently on a hospital bed, a permanent smile etched onto his face. The great fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, looked down at his son for the first time and he couldn't help but be filled with joy.

"He has your hair… But, both of our eyes?." Kushina acknowledges as she sat up and smiled down at their baby. True to her words, the baby in Minato's arms had a small mop of blonde hair sitting on his head, and although his eyes were barely open, they could see that one eye was a sea of blue and the other violet.

"Our little Naruto…" Minato chuckled, as he turned to hand the baby Naruto over to his wife, who kindly took him into her arms and snuggled him. In an instant, the infant fell back to sleep, his crying stopped. Kushina rocked him in her arms, a satisfied look plastered across her face.

"I'd tell you to rest, but you're too stubborn. You did just give birth ya' know.." Tsunade, the legendary Sannin and the cousin of Kushina Uzumaki remarked, as she stood on the side of the room, along with Jiraiya and Biwako Sarutobi, the third Hokage's wife. Next to them both, a beautiful woman with black hair smiled down at her best friend, with her own child in her arms.

"All Uzumaki are stubborn. It runs in their blood. But still, when I gave birth to Itachi and Sasuke, I was out for at least a few hours." Mikoto Uchiha chuckled, as she rocked the sleeping Sasuke in her arms. The young Uchiha baby wiggled in his sleep, before melting into his mother's touch.

"The seal is secure. We don't have to worry about the Kyuubi escaping." Jiraiya confirmed for them, causing them all to breathe a sigh of relief. Even though Minato could handle keeping the seal in check on his own, Jiraiya decided the help out anyways, just in case. You can never be too careful when dealing with a Jinchuriki seal.

When they had found out that Kushina was pregnant, it was an incredibly joyous occasion. However, there was always the overhanging threat of the seal weakening and releasing the fox. So for the past 9 months, Minato prepared in every form that he could to prepare for the birth of his son and to contain the fox. Minato looked down at his family and couldn't be more confident that all of his efforts were well worth it.

"Are you ready to welcome our little ball of sunshine home?" Minato asked his wife. She smiled and offered him her hand, which he took gladly. However, Kushina stopped and looked around the room at her friends, a hint of uncertainty on her face.

"I can't leave these guys to clean up everything. I can stay and he-" Kushina was cut off by a loud clap from Tsunade, which drew all of the attention to her.

"Don't be ridiculous, Kushina-Chan. Go home. Rest and enjoy your family." Tsunade said confidently as wrapped her arm around Jiraiya's back and smiled widely. "We're more than happy to have been a part of this. Now, enjoy your baby!"

Kushina smiled and a few tears pricked the corner of her eyes. ' _Wow, what would I do without all of you guys_.' Kushina waved and Minato gave a thumbs up before they all vanished in a ball of yellow light.

"That child is really going to be something else." Biwako sighed as she started to clean up around the room. "And with the best parent's he could ever ask for."

Tsunade and Jiraiya simply smiled and helped clean up around the room. But it was obvious that they all shared the same opinion.

Mikoto said her goodbyes and began to head back to the Uchiha compound with Sasuke. As she walked back to the village, she couldn't help but to stop and look up at the full moon above her head. The village was quiet and peaceful.

And that was how it stayed.

 **X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X.x.X**

"Quiet down everyone."

As soon as the Hokage spoke, the entire assembly of clans and council members hushed down. Minato stood up from his seat, a kind smile on his face. The rest of the council stood up and bowed to him, before taking their seats. Minato looked over the entire body of people and analyzed what he saw.

The Aburame clan leader sat in silence, as always, and he kept his head low. Next to him sat Choza Akimichi, Shikaku Nara and Inoichi Yamanaka. All very powerful men in their own respects, and although they weren't known as the strongest clan in the village, they weren't very far behind the Hyuuga and Uchiha clans.

Speaking of them, the next people that the Hokage noticed was Fugaku Uchiha sitting down with his arms crossed and his eyes closed. Minato sighed and shook his head at his old friend behavior. They'd always been close friends, but Fugaku couldn't seem to let go of his pride and arrogance. No matter what, he always believed that the Uchiha clan were superior to everyone and everything.

Minato shook his head and turned his eyes next to the Inuzuka and Hyuga clans. The Hyuga clan were probably just as arrogant as the Uchiha, but Minato narrowed his eyes when he saw two Hyuuga bodyguards standing behind Hiashi. 'How strange..' He decided to brush it off for another time.

Finally, Minato's eyes fell upon the Senju, Sarutobi, and Uzumaki clan, who all sat together. Kushina sat in the Uzumaki position, while baby Naruto sat in her arms, wiggling around. Hiruzen Sarutobi, the great professor and third Hokage sat next to Kushina, and Tsunade sat on the other side of Kushina.

There was also the three old council members that peered on from their seats silently and deviously. Minato silently smiled at them, although inside he prepared himself for what he was about to do.

Somehow, all eyes trailed and ended up on Kushina. More specifically, the little ball of life that she held in her arms. The majority of people's eyes widened to proportional sizes. Minato chuckled at this. He'd made sure to keep the people that knew to a bare minimum. Only the people that were present at the birth knew, and only they found out a few weeks before it was supposed to happen. Minato figured that the fewer people knew, the less likely it would get out to someone who would want to cause his family hard.

"H-Hokage-Sama, what is this?" Danzo was the first person to respond, his emotions calm and cold as always. Minato sat back and was about to respond but before he could, Tsume Inuzuka, leader of the Inuzuka clan, spoke up for him.

"What does it look like? Uzumaki-Chan has given birth to a pup." Tsume said obviously, as she looked over at the baby with wonder in her eyes. She sniffed the air a few times and sighed. "It even smells like them."

"When were you going to tell us? This is an incredible revelation which would mean the revival of the Uzumaki clan!" Koharu almost shouted, which prompted a harsh eye from Minato, which quickly shut him up.

"It simply didn't concern you. But if you want to know, I always planned to tell you about it now. I just prolonged the reveal because of the uncertain possibility of the information spilling. We all know how Iwagakure would have reacted to the news that the Yellow Flash's wife was expecting." Minato explained casually.

Several heads around the room began to nod in agreement with Minato, and they all were still marveling at the baby. The room fell into silence once again for a moment, before Shibi Aburame spoke up.

"His chakra is… Special." Shibi Aburame told the rest of the room, as two of his bugs retreated from on Naruto's body. Minato shrugged it off as Naruto receiving Kushina's special Uzumaki chakra, not giving it a second thought.

"Then what do you plan now that the baby is born?" The elderly woman, Homura Mitokado, asked Minato, her voice croaking. "Surely we can't protect it now that he's born."

"You mean _he._ " Minato corrects, his tone becoming dangerous. The elder frowned and sat back in her chair. "But in a way you are correct. We can no longer hide his existence. Surely they will try to assassinate or kidnap him, but if we're already looking out for it, it won't be a problem. This is not just for my son, but for all of the newly born clan heirs."

They all listened to this silently and they all took it in. Shikaku sighed and leaned back in his chair with his eyes closed.

"But that isn't all you called us for, is it Hokage-Sama?" He asked, into which Minato nodded his head. Everyone in the room turned their attention back to their leader, who cleared his throat and stood up.

"Starting today, I am choosing new advisors," Minato revealed confidently. Danzo's eyes widened in shock, and so did the other two elders, and they opened their mouth to protest. However, Minato raised his hand to shush them.

"My decision is final. You three, although useful to the third Hokage, are no longer useful advisors to me. You guys were useful during the war, but now we are living in more peaceful times."

The clan leaders seemed to mumble in agreement with him, but it was obvious that the elders were furious. Danzo could be seen growling, yet he stayed silent. Quite on the contrary, the other two stood up and slammed their fists on the table.

"What are you talking about?! We'll always have useful advice on how to benefit Konoha. Rethink this _ridiculous_ decision, boy!" Koharu hissed in anger. Not a moment later, the room became thick and unbreathable. All of the clan heads tensed and sweat began to formulate on their head.

"You seem to mistake your place, Koharu-San," Minato replied slowly, his eyes piercing into Koharu. The elderly man gasped and visibly quaked, the killer intent directed directly at him. His mouth was left open in a gasp, but no more came out.

"Take a seat," Minato suggested firmly, the killer intent vanishing from the room in an instant. Everyone relaxed and the two elders sat down in their seats, not a further word coming out of their mouths.

"And further, the branch of Anbu known as Root is being disbanded as of tonight," Minato revealed finally, which prompted an enraged glare from Danzo.

"That is a most unwise decision, _Hokage-Sama_. Root is key in keeping Konoha safe. If they vanish, Konoha will be more vulnerable to attacks." Danzo tried to argue, spitting out his words as if it was poison. Minato shook his head and frowned at the war hawk.

"The decision is final, Danzo. Root is unnecessary for the future of Konoha. We can't be a village of paranoia, striking out at whatever little threats we see. That will only increase the cycle of hatred around the Elemental Nations. We will put an end to that hatred to prolong this peace for as long as we can." Minato said firmly, into which many there agreed to.

"I call for a vote," Koharu suggested, putting his hand up. Everyone looked at him, and then at Minato, who began to chuckle. Soon the chuckling turned into full-blown laughter.

"You really seem to forget that the Hokage is the supreme leader of the Village. The Hokage always gets the final say in any matter." Minato reminded them, as he wiped a tear of laughter from his eye. "There is _no_ voting system in this government. If I ask your opinion, or if I ask for a vote, then it will be done. However, don't think for a second that you can weasel your way around my decision. This is MY village."

Minato waved his hand and three of his ANBU jumped from the shadows, behind the three elders. They seemed shocked and looked at Minato for an explanation.

"You are no longer apart of the council. You are dismissed indefinitely." Minato waved them off. Soon enough all of the previous advisors were out of the room, and Minato stood up and smiled, finally free of the strenuous part of the entire meeting.

"Wow, I've been waiting for that for a _long_ time," Shikaku said from his seat, a pleasant smile on his face. Everyone in the room was aware of the corruption that Root brought to Konoha, and that the old crows were always spouting out advice that could potentially put Konoha in another war. ' _Good thing I bothered to get out of bed for this_..'

"Now, for the appointment of my next advisors," Minato said with a grin, as he stood up and looked across the group. He had already decided on this a long time ago but was unsure of how they'd take the news.

"Shikaku Nara and Fugaku Uchiha."

Shikaku almost choked on air, his closed eyes suddenly becoming the size of plates. He _definitely_ wasn't expecting this. ' _How troublesome_.' Shikaku thought as he face-palmed himself.

Fugaku Uchiha seemed to be the most shocked out of the entire group, his mouth left agape like a fish. No previous Hokage has ever had an Uchiha in a high position, and Fugaku had begun to believe that they didn't trust the clan. However, this was obviously proven false by this sudden revelation.

' _An advisor to the Hokage? Minato.._.' Fugaku began to rethink everything and stayed in silence.

"Hokage-Sama! Are you sure about this?" Shikaku blubbered out, still shocked by the news. Minato nodded and turned his back to the group.

"I've thought it over quite a few times. For one, you Shikaku, we all know you're incredibly intelligent. Possibly the smartest and most strategic in the room. After all, it was you that helped me form the strategy to take out the Iwa army." Minato explained to the group.

Shikaku took a deep breath and stopped to compose himself. A ghost of a smile crossed his face as he crossed his arms and closed his eyes again. ' _Finally, the Nara clan is getting some recognition.'_

"Hokage-Sama. Not that I am complaining, but why me?" Fugaku asked, finally speaking for the first time the entire meeting. All eyes turned to the Fourth Hokage, most with similar questions in their head. Minato turned back and looked at the Uchiha leader, a smile still on his face.

"The Uchiha clan was a very important factor in the creation of Konoha. It unnerved me when I realized that not a single Uchiha member, despite their history and knowledge, has been in a position such as this." Minato revealed to Fugaku. "Plus, I trust you."

Those last words caused Fugaku to smile subconsciously, and he closed his eyes in acceptance. ' _This will be a turning point for the Uchiha clan. No more will we tiptoe around being fully dedicated to serving Konoha.'_ Fugaku decided.

"Do you guys accept this?" Minato asked hopefully.

"Yes, Hokage-Sama."

"How troublesome… It would be stupid for me to not accept..."

Minato nodded and looked over the clan heads of his village. They would be able to work together for a new future. No longer would they be subject to the cycle of hatred and war. He would make sure of this, even if it meant his life.

 **X.x.X.x.X.x.X.X..x.X.x.X.X.x.X**

"Papa…"

The young blonde child giggled and caused many in the area to jump up and down in happiness. Kushina, Minato and a now four-year-old Naruto strolled through the streets of Konoha casually. Many of the villagers and young ninja were starstruck, their eyes latched onto the back of their mightyHokage. A huge crowd of girls with hearts in their eyes followed them squealing for Minato. That was quickly stopped by Kushina's death glare and waving red hair.

"Papa!" The young Naruto called again, as he crawled up Minato's body and onto his back. Minato chuckled and held onto his son's legs to make sure that he wouldn't fall. Minato looked up at his son and smiled, wondering where the time went.

In the past four years, Naruto had grown just as a normal child would. The small mop of blonde hair grew quickly and although it wasn't as much as Minato's, it fit perfectly on Naruto's frame. Surprisingly, the tips of his hair began to fade into orange, and at the very end, they were a crimson red.

Another interesting thing that developed since Naruto was born was two whisker marks on each cheek. Kushina has chalked it up as a birthmark from being the son of the Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi, and Minato couldn't think of another reason for them. Despite that, he'd grown normally. Albeit a little bit more advanced than the other kids his age.

"Minato, did you send out the invitations to Naruto's birthday party?" Kushina asked her husband, who smiled and nodded, as he took Kushina's hand in his own. With his free arm, he held onto Naruto.

"Yes, everyone said that they would come," Minato told his wife as they strolled into the Namikaze estate. The freshly cut grass swayed in the breeze and the pink sakura trees that decorated the gate arched over them.

Naruto climbed back down from his father's back and began to jump up and down in excitement, his hands balled up and a huge smile on his face. He ran ahead of his parents and the grass and trees began to sway towards him, before falling back to their natural state. Before he reached the door, he turned back around and ran back to his parents.

"Is Sasuke-Kun coming?!" Naruto asked hopefully, his pleading multi-colored eyes sparkling. Kushina reached out and ruffled his hair, into which he frowned and scrambled to get away from her messing up his hair.

"Yes, Sasuke-Kun will be her-"

"And Ino-Chan?!"

"Ye-"

"And Kiba-Kun, and Choji-Kun, and Shino-San, an-"

"Yes, yes, Naruto-Chan! All of your friends will be here. Every single one of them!" Kushina interrupted him kindly. The young clan heir hopped up and down in excitement before he ran back to the door and into the house. By the time Kushina and Minato made it to the front door, Naruto was long gone, probably getting ready for his party.

"Kizura-Chan said that she would be coming with Karin," Kushina told Minato, who replied by smiling and hugging his wife tightly. For the past few years, Minato had begun to hear reports of Uzumaki's scattered around the Elemental Nations; some living peacefully. Others, not so peacefully.

They'd all been scattered after their village was destroyed, it seemed, and although some of them didn't accept the offer to go to Konoha and have a better life, some did. When he found Kizura, she was pregnant and living in an abandoned village near the Wave Country. He and Kushina brought her back to Konoha and officially made the Uzumaki clan a part of Konoha, now that Kushina was a part of the Namikaze clan.

After that, many members of the Uzumaki clans around the elemental nations began to filter back to Konoha, and Minato didn't feel so bad about the fact that Konoha didn't get there in time to save their hidden village. Unfortunately, some of the Uzumaki still held resentment to Konoha for not backing them up; only taking Minato's offer to stay in Konoha because it was the safest place for them to be.

At the current time, there were only just over 20 other Uzumaki in the village.

"That sounds wonderful," Minato replied before they turned to see the messy house around them…

"Now how are we going to clean up before everyone arrives?" Minato asks with a sweatdrop. Kushina chuckled and winked at her husband, before forming the seal for the Kage Bunshin, summoning 20 clones. They immediately began running around the house, cleaning every inch of it as quickly as they could.

"Now that's a useful party trick."

A few hours later the first guests arrived. First the Uchiha clan, the Nara clan, and then the rest of the clan heads. As soon as Naruto saw his friends, it was as if he forgot his parents even existed. At the moment all of the kids were running around playing 'ninja' outside, while the adults sat inside chatting.

"Thank you for inviting all of us, Kushina-Chan. Hokage-Sama." Mikoto said kindly, as she politely bowed to Kushina and Minato, who waved her off with a smile. "Little Sasuke really does enjoy playing with Naruto."

"Ahah, it's not a problem! You should have seen Naruto's face when he heard that all of his friends were going to be here." Kushina said with a smile, giving her best friend a thumbs up.

"Hey Itachi-San, wouldn't you prefer to be out there with the other kids?" Minato asked the silent son of Fugaku, who stood silently at the other side of the room eating a slice of cake.

"They're playing Ninja Tag; it would simply be too easy for me." Itachi shrugged and took another piece of cake into his mouth.

Minato examined the silent boy and nodded his head, acknowledging the boy's outstanding skill. He was only 9 but had made Genin at the age of 7. Frankly, Minato was quite sure that the boy was well above Chunnin. However, his sensei wasn't comfortable with making a child a Chunnin and sending them out to their deaths, so he never submitted him to the Chunnin exams.

"Speaking of things being easy, I heard your latest C Rank mission went smoothly. Good job." Minato praised him, only receiving a nod from Itachi.

"Nothing at that level will prove to be difficult for me or my team," Itachi said truthfully, and Minato knew it. Fugaku stood off to the side, listening to the conversation and smirking.

"Whoa, you're definitely a prodigy of your generation. You'll grow to be an incredible ninja." Minato said with a smile on his face, and reached out and patted Itachi's shoulder. This seemed to remind Itachi of something because he looked up and swallowed the piece of cake in his mouth.

"You know, speaking of prodigies. I've noticed that Narut-"

"No more talking about work at our son's birthday party!" Kushina interrupted, harshly patting Minato on the back and causing him to chuckle nervously.

"Gotta listen to my wife. Sorry, Itachi-San. We can continue this conversation next time." Minato laughed as he was dragged away by Kushina.

"It's time to open the presents!" Kushina announced to the group of adults. They all then went out to retrieve the kids, who reluctantly stopped their game to go back inside.

Naruto and Sasuke came back in last, both sporting dusty and damaged clothes. Kushina scolded Naruto about ruining his fresh new clothes, while Naruto countered that they were just playing; and that he had plenty of other clothes.

Soon enough, everyone was gathered together in the resting quarters of the Namikaze household, either sitting or standing around a kneeling Naruto. Around him were many presents, and almost as soon as he saw them, he began to tear them open.

First, he opened the gift from the Aburame clan. Inside, there was what looked like an orange translucent rock, with a weird looking bug on the inside of it. Naruto looked at the bug with interest, before he moved onto his next gift.

The Akimichi clan had provided the food for the evening, but still, Choji brought his own separate gift; a coupon for a year of ramen from Ichiraku Ramen. This almost brought Naruto to tears of happiness, causing almost all of the guest to laugh.

Next, Hiruzen Sarutobi and Biwako offered Naruto some scrolls on unlocking chakra. Naruto took them and excitedly pocketed the scrolls, but then turned to Hiruzen.

"Hey, Jiji! Were these for unlocking chakra?" Naruto asked as he fiddled with the last scroll in his hand.

"Yes. Every great ninja has to start out somewhere. And Chakra is the greatest weapon of a ninja." The ex-Hokage told him, a warm smile on his face. However, Naruto frowned in response, which confused him.

"What's the matter, Naruto-Chan?"

"It's just that, Itachi-San and Tou-san say that I already unlocked my chakra," Naruto reveals to the room as if it wasn't anything special. Some of the room raised their eyes in interest, not having seen something this advanced from a child at such a young age… Except maybe Itachi and Kakashi. But even then, it was extremely rare.

"Oh? Well, I guess I'll have to give you something more advanced next time." Hiruzen responded with a hearty chuckle, having not expected the surprise. He sat back in his chair and took out his smoker, but before he could light it, a certain blonde haired woman snatched it from his hand.

"Smoke isn't good for the kids, sensei," Tsunade remarked as she proceeded to pocket the device. Hiruzen sighed in defeat and went back to viewing the gift opening.

From the Yamanaka clan, he received a bunch of flowers, which Kushina took off his hands and put it in a vase. The Nara clan gave him a Shoji board. And from the Inuzuka clan, some face paint.

Next came a young, and very late, Kakashi. Before anyone could complain about his tardiness, Kakashi handed Naruto a white blade and Shushined away. Naruto wasn't complaining, however, and he quickly clipped the blade to his pants.

"You're going to really need to fix your students problem with lateness… It's becoming less humorous as time passes." Fugaku stated, into which Minato awkwardly rubbed the back of his own head.

Next gift that Naruto found in his pile of presents was an extremely basic scroll on sealing. Kizura sat down next to Kushina; her daughter Karin clinging onto her mother shyly. Kizura smiled as Naruto happily took the scroll put it in his, almost full, pockets.

Naruto then proceeded to open up the present from Tsunade, who gave him a scroll for a little healing Jutsu that required barely any Chakra to perform. She was one of the ones that knew that Naruto's had unlocked his chakra beforehand, and was able to adjust accordingly.

Similarly, Jiraiya as informed by Minato, so when he handed Naruto a scroll on chakra control, Naruto was ecstatic. If it wasn't for the rest of the gifts lying around, Naruto would have most definitely started studying it on the spot. However, when he noticed the huge smile on Sasuke's face, he jumped up to see what his best friend had got for him.

To Naruto's delight, Sasuke had bought him the latest, and coolest, ninja tag equipment. Naruto proceeded to hug Sasuke the tightest that he'd ever hug him before. Sasuke winced but smiled in the embrace, accepting the act of affection from his friend. By the time Naruto let go of him, Sasuke had no more air left in his body and had to take a moment to get his breath back.

"THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!" Naruto bounced around the room, and soon went back to Sasuke in an attempt to hug him again. However, before he could get to Sasuke, Itachi kneeled in the way, causing Naruto to almost run into him.

"Hey, Itachi-San! Did you see what Sasuke-Kun got for me?!" Naruto asked with glee, now looking up at Itachi. Itachi smiled back down at the blonde and reached into his pouch, pulling out a small book on tree walking.

"This is my gift to you, Naruto-Kun. I'll be on many missions from now on, so I won't be able to teach you myself. But I'm sure you'll be able to get it on your own." Itachi said kindly. Naruto looked at the book with even more amazement, and instead of putting it in his pocket, he put it in between his arms and went to look for anymore presents.

When he didn't find anymore he was still bouncing on his heels and turned around to all of the guests. He took a deep breath and bowed respectfully to all of the guests.

"Thank you all for the gifts. I'll make sure to take care of all of them as best as I can."

Kushina and Minato put their arms around each other and proudly looked down at their son. ' _Looks like teaching him manors actually paid off,_ ' Kushina thought. They both looked at each other and Kushina nervously rubbed the back of her head.

"Naruto, there's one more present left, from us," Kushina tells him, into which all of the occupants in the room lean in, not sure where this was going.

"What is it?" Naruto asked as he turned to his parents in confusion.

"Well… We… I…" Kushina fumbled with her words, not sure how Naruto would react. After a few seconds of scrambling for words, she sighed and put her hand in a hand seal.

"I'll just show you... KAI!"

And with that, the simple Genjutsu that Kushina put on herself came undone. Naruto's, and everyone in the rooms, eyes suddenly sprung open and they all gasped. Not much changed, except the prominent fact that Kushina's once flat-stomach, was now large and swollen. Naruto stood in shock, not moving from his spot.

Kushina nervously chuckled and looked around the room, seeing many shocked faces. She'd kept this secret from everyone, except Minato of course, for the same reason that she kept it a secret last time. Baby Arashi wasn't due for another month, but she'd managed to keep everyone in the dark up until now. Thankfully she trusted everyone in the room, or else she would have waited until the very last few days like the last time.

Out of everyone, Kushina was worried about Naruto's reaction the most. Although he'd always been good with other kids, she was unsure how he'd react to not being the complete center of attention all the time.

"D-Does that mean… That I'll have a baby brother or sister?" Naruto stuttered out, his face still portraying a look of complete shock. Kushina nodded her head slowly in response, trying to read what Naruto was thinking.

"Yes! But don't worry, we'll still love you bo-"

Kushina's rambling was stopped by Naruto running over to her and hugging her stomach tight against his body. His eyes were shut as he cuddled both her and the unborn baby, a look of happiness crossing his face.

"This is the best present that I could have asked for. I can't wait!"

Minato and Kushina shared a happy glance at each other before they all embraced in a family huddle. The rest of the room smiled at the family of three, soon to be four, and silently wished the best for them.

The party continued from there, and not long after, the kids tired themselves out. After Naruto was carried to bed by his mother, everyone else filled out. Soon enough, the only people left were Jiraya, Tsunade, Fugaku, Shikaku, and the Namikaze parents.

"I'll be going to rest now. Thank you again so much for coming. Naruto definitely enjoyed seeing you guys. He doesn't exactly understand how long you two will be gone this time around…" Kushina said kindly, referring to Tsunade and Jiraiya. The two Sanin simply smiled in response and bowed to Kushina in respect.

"It was a pleasure, Kushina-Chan. It's been lovely watching him grow so far." Tsunade says truthfully to her cousin. "I wish you'd told me about the unborn baby, I would have probably stayed for longer. But now it's too late. I am your primary doctor, after all."

"Yeah, sorry about that, hehe," Kushina said with a smile, one hand already on the banister heading upstairs. "Don't worry, I'll make sure to have some of the Uzumaki healers there with me at the time. They _do_ have incredible healing abilities."

"Yeah, I guess that will have to do. I wish I could have been there to see my second godchild be born. But it's fine. When I come back he'll be about the age Naruto is now, I think."

Tsunade hugged her cousin for the last time before Kushina finished her goodbyes and went up the stairs to her bedroom. Fugaku and Nara stood in silence in the entrance way of the home; waiting for the last remaining Sanin to leave.

"I guess this is a goodbye to you too, Minato-San," Tsunade said. Minato nodded and smiled at his head medic. All of a sudden, Tsunade punched Minato at the top of his head, causing a small coco to pop up and him to sweatdrop.

"If you treat Kushina-Chan in any kind of unkind way, I'll kill you, you hear me?!" Tsunade yelled at the Hokage. Minato sighed and with fake anime-tears in his eyes, he waved both of his hands frantically.

"I'll treat her well, I promise!" Minato said frantically until Tsunade simmered down a little bit. Tsunade crossed her arms across her chest and with a steeled face, she nodded.

"Good. In that case, I'll be going." Tsunade said her goodbyes and turned to the exit. Before she could get out of the door, however, she turned to look at Jiraiya.

"And you better not get into any more trouble! You got that?!" Tsunade commanded Jiraiya, who sheepishly nodded his head and shrugged his shoulders.

"With enemy ninjas, sure. But I'm not sure about the ladies. I still got books to write!" Jiraiya chuckled perversely, causing Tsunade to shake her head and chuckle. In a way, she was glad that he didn't change at all. She didn't even want to think about her other teammate… Her heart was still sore from that betrayal.

"Goodbye, pervert," Tsunade said before she closed the door behind her and disappeared into the night. The room fell into silence once again, before Jiraiya turned to face his student, who waited for him with open arms.

"I'd offer to sit and have a drink with, but I have some important Hokage-things to deal with after this," Minato told his teacher, waving his hands over to point at his two advisors. Jiraiya waved his hand in dismissal and patted his student on the shoulder.

"It's fine, this party was more than enough. And it's not like I'll be gone forever. I'll be back around the same time as Tsunade-Hime. Don't even make a big deal about it." Jiraiya said nonchalantly, despite the huge grin on his face.

He'd enjoyed watching his student grow and wouldn't trade it for the world. He still believed Minato to be the savior from the prophecy, and it seemed as though the world was heading for a more peaceful time. Only time would tell.

"I'll see you around then. Sensei." Minato said with conviction, offering his hand to his master. Jiraiya firmly gripped Minato's open palm, and shook it, before he turned and left the house.

Minato sighed and turned to his two advisors, who were still silently waiting for him. All three of them walked out of the living area and to the fireplace. Once there, Minato reached down and pulled up a fake log, which then opened up a secret room. They all entered, and the door closed behind them.

Once inside, the torches around the room lit up immediately, revealing three seats and a roundtable. The room seemed to be made of some sort of metal, which looked highly durable. Minato had built this addition to the house not long after he came Hokage, thinking that it would come in handy eventually.

Once they were all settled into their seats, Fugaku cleared his throat and began to speak.

"I noticed that the lack of the Hyuuga clan," Fugaku said with his arms crossed over his chest.

"They've been more secluded and secretive ever since Kumo tried to kidnap Hinata. I haven't seen Hiashi much since." Minato revealed to Fugaku, who simply shrugged his shoulders.

"Hmph…"

"And what about the hunt for Orochimaru? How is that turning out?" Shikaku joined in, as he slowly stroked his beard.

"Slow. The small groups I sent out always seem to get wiped out or find that he's already evacuated from the base. On the last run, however, I tagged along with them and we managed to rescue quite a lot of his prisoners. We found many of an unnamed clan, who seem to have the ability to draw on the natural chakra in the earth. He was using them to further develop mastering the Curse Seal…" Minato revealed to them, into which they shook their head in disgust.

"And what of the unnamed clan?" Fugaku asked with interest.

"They are constantly absorbing natural chakra without a filter, and because of that, they have periods of insanity in which they become extremely violent. For this reason, they've decided that they'll be apart of Konoha, but will live away from the main village in their own little village not far from here."

Shikaku and Fugaku simply nodded in agreement with Fugaku's actions. Minato crossed his arms and then turned to Fugaku, who pulled out a scroll from his sleeve and handed it to Minato.

"This has the content of the tablet of the Uchiha. I was finally able to write the content down and decipher most of its meaning. It holds the history of the Shinobi world and the origin of Chakra." Fugaku said seriously. Minato took the scroll with a serious expression, having not expected that much.

"It appears that there was a tree called the God Tree a thousand years ago. To stop an upcoming war, one of the queens of the land consumed the fruit of this tree and became imbued with chakra. She ruled over the land but soon enough, the power began to corrupt her and the tree happened to be sentient. It took over her body and formed a monster… The first Bijuu…" Fugaku revealed seriously. The two other men sat closer, intent on remembering this important information.

"Only one? But there are nine now?" Shikaku questioned the Uchiha.

"The current 9 Bijuu were all formed from this one incredibly powerful Bijuu. This one was known as the Juubi, the ten tailed Bijuu…" Fugaku said, which caused the two men to gasp in shock. "Fortunately, the woman had two children who had incredible power inherited from their mother. And with their combined strength, they managed to seal their mother away in an incredible technique called the Chibaku Tensei. And then they split their mother into 9 different forms; the nine Bijuu," Fugaku explained finally.

"Why didn't they just seal the rest of the Bijuu away?" Shikaku asked the knowledgable Uchiha.

"It appears that they were once good, and were intended to be the protectors of humankind."

"Well, something clearly went wrong somewhere down the line." Minato sighed in clear exhaustion, the whole revelation completely blowing him away. They fell back in silence for a few moments to take it all in.

Minato thought about it for a moment and began to draw conclusions in his head. He knew the nature of mankind and knew that they probably began to view the beasts as monsters not long after they were split from the 10 tails. That was probably the reason the beasts turned on humanity. But even if the Beasts were redeemable, Minato couldn't think of a way to communicate with them and reason with them…

"What of the two children? I assume they had kids and their descendants eventually became the Shinobi people?" Shikaku said, which snapped Minato out of his thoughts.

"Yes. The only clans I have pinpointed as being direct descendants of the Sage and his brother is the Hyuuga clan, Uchiha clan, Senju clan, and the Uzumaki clan, but I'm sure that there are more." Fugaku reported before sitting back.

"Thank you, Fugaku-San. You and the Uchiha's help has been incredible in helping Konoha grow." Minato thanked him, into which Fugaku simply nodded and put his hands on the desk.

"Now, let's move on…."

 **Fated Day**

"What the hell happened out there?!"

The chaos in the council room was immense, and no one could hear each other over the others yelling. The village had just been thrown into a state of panic and could have been very easily annihilated. Fortunately, it wasn't, but for a reason that no one could yet understand. It wasn't making any sense.

"The Kyuubi! How did the monster escape?!"

"Where did it go?!"

"Where's the Yondaime?!"

"BE SILENT!"

The entire room quickly fell quickly into silence as the head of the Uchiha clan's voice overpowered them all. All eyes turned to the dark haired man, who had one hand covering a bloodied eye. The man had a look of pure anger on his face, but if one looked close enough, they'd be able to see the sadness laced behind it.

"What happened, Uchiha-San? Where's Minato?" Hiruzen asked as calmly as he could. Merely an hour ago they were out on the front line defending Konoha against the fearsome tailed beast, and the Yondaime appeared and seemed to vanish with the beast. Neither he or the beast had made an appearance since then.

"The Yondaime is dead…"

The room fell into complete silence once again. The realization hit them all like a ton of bricks, and it started to come together now. Not a single word escaped anyone's mouths until Fugaku spoke again.

"The Yondaime and his wife were expecting a child tonight. However, just after Uzumaki-Sama gave birth to their second child, a masked man appeared and after taking the baby hostage, he unsealed the Kyuubi." Fugaku told them all, a frown appearing on his face. "The Yondaime and I tried to stop him, but he utilized some sort of space-time Jutsu and escaped. "

Everyone stayed silent, still shocked at the sudden revelation. Everyone in the room knew that they hadn't leaked the information, so how had an enemy ninja so powerful have figured it out?

"When we arrived back in Konoha, we worked immediately to get the Bijuu out of the village. I put the beast under a Genjutsu so that the Yondaime could get the Kyuubi out of range of the village." Fugaku said, and many looked at his closed left eye, which he had covered. "And once they were out of range… Minato sacrificed his life to seal the Bijuu into his newborn son…"

The room stayed in silence yet again, unsure how to process this information. Yesterday everything was going perfectly. And now the world was turned completely upside down. Even down to the end, the Yondaime sacrificed everything for the village. Even his own life. Only a few more questions lingered on everyone's minds.

"What happened to Kushina? And the kids? Where are they now?" Kizuma Uzumaki asked from her seat. Tears pricked the side of her eyes, and her beautiful face was twisted into one of pure sadness. Her heart was breaking, and she wouldn't be able to handle it if the woman she had become so close to was gone too…

"Kushina… They couldn't save her completely, but they saved her from death." Fugaku said, causing Kizuma to gasp in relief. "Some of the Uzumaki medics were with her at the time and managed to keep her from death. She is in a coma. Right now it is unsure if she'll recover."

"And what about Naruto? And the Jinchuriki?" Hiruzen spoke up once again, into which Fugaku sighed and dropped his head to look at the ground.

"Naruto witnessed the entire thing… From the removal of the Kyuubi from his mother to the death of his father..."

The entire room gasped in shock, all of them knowing how such a traumatizing event could affect a child. His entire life was uprooted in what probably seemed like an instant. Kizura stood up and headed for the door as fast as she could, only stopping to turn to Fugaku with tear filled eyes.

"Where are they?"

"At the Uzumaki clan compound."

When Kizura found them, she could barely catch her breath. Just the sight of the boys almost ripped her heart out.

The young Jinchuriki was crying his eyes out, his voice louder then any other baby cry Kizura had heard in her entire life. From what she could see from the door, he had straight, blood red hair, just like his mother. His little hair looked frazzled and he had three whisker marks on each cheek. He was wrapped in a white blanket, which was covered in spots of blood.

The most heart-wrenching sight was of Naruto, though. He was clutching his brother as tightly as he could to his chest, to what looked to be an uncomfortable degree. His eyes were wide open, his face overwritten with terror and sadness. Tears streamed down his cheeks and over his bloodied face. Even when she entered the room, the older boy didn't even seem to notice her. Rather, he kept cradling his brother in his arms; chanting the same words over and over.

"Don't worry Arashi-Chan… You'll be alright… Big brother is here for you… You'll be okay..."

He continued until they both fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed! This was really just the prologue chapter, the story will actually begin next chapter. Don't want to spoil too much so I'll keep my mouth shut, but things will be slightly different. As you can see, the Uchiha clan isn't against Konoha, and Konoha isn't afraid of the Uchiha. The Kyuubi wasn't Genjutsu hacked by the attacker (who most likely isn't Obito in my story). You'll find out who replaces Minato as Hokage next chapter, and also what becomes of Naruto and his brother.**


	2. Bunshin No Jutsu!

"Come in, Uzumaki-Sama."

With that, a certain redhead walked into the Hokage's office silently and closed the door behind her. Kizura Uzumaki, the current head of the Uzumaki clan, took a few steps closer to the Hokage table and bowed respectfully, before standing up straight.

"You may sit."

Kizura did just that. When she sat, her long red hair fell beautifully across her body, and she looked up at the Gondaime Hokage with a calm and collected expression on her face.

Fugaku Uchiha sat in the Hokage seat and he looked back at Kizura intently, eager to hear what she had to say. The Hokage cap sat smoothly on his head, and the cape had been wrapped around the back of his chair. Kizura took a moment and felt her stomach churn. It had already been two years, but seeing someone else in _Minato's_ seat made her feel weird on the inside. Even if this was the best option after Minato, she felt that anyone else in that seat wouldn't sit well with her.

When she had left the clan meeting on that fated night, they had gone ahead and decided on the next Kage without her. Not like she would have gone with another choice. Everyone was in agreement that Fugaku was a worthy successor and that was what Minato would have wanted. After all, the runner-ups for Yondaime had been Fugaku, Orochimaru and Minato himself.

A few years ago the village would have probably had second thoughts about making an Uchiha the Hokage, but since Minato and Fugaku worked together to restore the bonds of the Uchiha and the village, the hostility had broken. In fact, Fugaku's rule was as if Minato was still alive.

But of course, he wasn't….

"Report?" Fugaku asked the Uzumaki woman, who complied immediately.

"Arashi's shown no signs of the Kyuubi's chakra or any abnormal behavior. He's growing as any normal child would. The clan has adopted him as their own. Having a Jinchuuriki family member isn't rare in the Uzumaki clan." Kizura said with a smile before it suddenly dropped into a frown. "Some people don't seem to share the same view, however."

"Or so I've heard," Fugaku inhaled sharply, the disappointment clear on his face for a split second. "Not a lot, but it appears a few can't seem to get over the fact that Arashi is simply the container of the beast and not the beast itself. That can't be helped. They'll eventually understand."

"Agreed." Kizura nodded before she continued. "The sealing masters of the Uzumaki compound checked over the seal that Minato used to put the Kyuubi into Arashi and found no faults in it. After all, it was an Uzumaki seal in the first place. For him to learn it is impressive in itself."

"He was truly a genius," Fugaku responded slowly. The room fell into silence once more, and Kizura lowed her head to stare at the floor.

It seemed that the wounds would never heal. Kushina was still in her coma, and there hadn't been any development since the day she slipped into it. And Minato was just another reminder of that fact.

"And what of Naruto? How is he coping and developing?" Fugaku asked with vested interest, which broke the silence quite effectively. Kizura's head came back up and her eyes flashed with interest and hope.

"Much better now than before. He still mourns for his father and visits his mother daily, but he is starting to move past it." Kizura told him which caused a smile to cross her face.

After she had found Arashi and Naruto crying themselves to sleep, Kizura made sure to inculcate them into the family as much as she could. After all, they were both handed to the Uzumaki clan after Minato's death and Kushina's inability to parent. Fortunately, the clan took more than well to them.

In the beginning, Naruto was in denial. As most kids would be. At the funeral, it took effort for even the most stone-faced of people not to be moved by Naruto's grief. That first night, they didn't leave the Memorial stone until Naruto had passed out while staring at it. If Kizura had let him, she was sure that he'd probably stand there for hours every day; even now.

On occasions, she'd still find him trying to escape at night to head back to the Namikaze estate, but she'd always catch him right before he would leave. However, it definitely decreased after awhile. Probably when he came to realize that nothing would bring Minato back.

Karin was very fond of having siblings, and so was Idoru, Kizura's 10-year-old son, and Karin's brother. 4 years older than Naruto and Karin. Her two children had both been crushed when Kizura declared that she wasn't going to have any more kids, but that was before everything change. Thankfully, Naruto and Arashi fit into the small family like a glove.

"That is good to hear," Fugaku said with a genuine smile. "I saw your son Idoru entered the academy two years ago and is excelling. Is Naruto planning on entering early or will he wait until he turns 8?" Fugaku asked, eager for the answer.

Fugaku had become aware of Naruto's… Shinobi developments by Itachi after Naruto's fourth birthday party. Of course, the fact that Naruto had already unlocked his chakra at such an early age had shocked him; but it wasn't unheard of. Kakashi Hatake had become a Genin at the age of 5, after all, so he'd had to have unlocked his chakra from before. However, it was _extremely_ rare.

After the event, Fugaku pushed Itachi, who had been somehow privy to this information beforehand, to explain. Itachi explained to him that one day while Naruto and Sasuke had been watching Itachi train, Naruto simply tried to copy Itachi's Ninjutsu and then all of a sudden, an intense and potent chakra poured out of Naruto; which apparently was what unlocked his chakra.

Now _that_ wasn't heard of, or normal, and Itachi knew it. So the only person that Itachi had told was Minato, and he swore Sasuke to secrecy. However, after that event, Itachi had begun to watch Naruto more closely and seemed to notice that the boy was quite _different_.

Similar to Itachi in many ways, the young Namikaze was a talent at many things. His accuracy was incredible for such a small child, his endurance was insane (courtesy of his Uzumaki genes), and he seemed to learn unnaturally fast. Another thing was his intelligence, even despite his young age. While Fugaku hadn't seen it for himself, he trusted Itachi wouldn't lie about such a strange occurrence.

"Naruto has decided not to join the academy as of yet. He's decided to wait until he turns 8, like the rest of his friends planned on doing." Kizura revealed, into which Fugaku nodded his head. "As much as I'd like him to stay out of the ninja world for as long as possible, I can't say I agree with his reasoning for joining later," Kizura said with a sigh. Fugaku raised an eyebrow at the statement, clearly confused.

"And why is that?" Fugaku asked the Uzumaki. She sat back with a sad smile on her face.

"He believes that he needs to stay home to protect us," She revealed to him. "He hasn't said it, but I feel that he believes it was his own powerlessness that allowed that masked man to do those horrible things to his mother and destroy his life. I think that's what's been driving him more than anything to get stronger."

Fugaku sat in silence and listened, and then prompted her to explain what she meant with a head nod.

"Before the sealing, I saw Minato and Naruto train, but not much. A couple of times a week at most, and not for very long. However, since Naruto has been living with us, most of his free time is either spent reading one of the many scrolls that Minato left for them or training someway or another. Taijutsu, Ninjutsu, Kenjutsu, Shuriken Jutsu. You name it, and he's been training in it. It isn't uncommon to find him passed out outside after training too hard." Kizura said with a sad expression painted across her face.

Obviously, she preferred if he trained less. She didn't want him out in the ninja world, the real world, anytime soon, but he seemed to be perfectly fit for it. Motivated and unnaturally talented. She was almost positive that this was his way of coping through the grief.

"So he blames himself for the death and the Kyuubi removal and is thus training himself as hard as he can to better prepare himself for the next time tragedy strikes," Fugaku concluded, followed by a grunt. "I'll allow him to wait the additional two years, as long as you make sure that he's still training."

"Hai, Hokage-Sama."

They both sat in silence once more while Fugaku sat back and thought about the information that was just given to him. If the rumors were true, Naruto would no doubt turn out to be an incredible ninja. He could wait until the boy was ready. There wasn't a rush. But he did wonder…

"Is he taking into the Uzumaki tradition and specialties well?" Fugaku asked, into which Kizura nodded her head in response.

"He seems to absorb everything like a sponge. His sealing is still at beginner level, but he's improving fast. As for the chakra chains, I haven't attempted to teach them to him yet. I'm sure he's read up on it in one of the scrolls Kushina left, however." She informed the Hokage. Fugaku nodded his head sighed.

"Thank you, Uzumaki-Sama. That will be all."

* * *

"Again! Again! Again! Again! Again!"

The sound of running could be heard in one of the Uzumaki compound training areas. The only blonde haired Uzumaki ran through the trees at insane speeds, dodging and diving over branches as he ran. When he got close enough to his target, a humanoid shaped board of wood, he applied chakra to his feet and veered to his left, kicking off the nearest tree and sending himself into the trees above. While in midair, his target came into view, and the blonde turned his body into a spiral while reaching into his shuriken pouch. In a flash, three shurikens went flying out of his hand and buried itself into the target with a loud thud.

He hit the ground on his shoulder, harder than he expected, but easily rolled back onto his feet. Once on his feet, the boy took out a kunai knife and he threw it towards a tree, but quickly reached into a pouch and threw another one to ricochet off the first one. This caused the first kunai to hit the target dead on, despite him throwing it from an almost impossible angle.

"You're going to break yourself if you keep training like this, Naru-Chan."

Naruto ignored his older cousin's statement and rubbed off the sweat on his forehead with a dirty hand. He was wearing a plain white T-Shirt with long black sweatpants. Underneath he wore a new pair of weights on his legs. He grunted as he rolled his shoulder and winced at the slight pain.

"Come on, let's go inside and play a game. Kaasan is going to be home soon and will expect us to be inside." Idoru warned his little cousin-brother, who continued to ignore him completely. Idoru sat down at the top of a tree with his legs crossed. He looked down at Naruto, who was preparing for another round of his target practice. Idoru's short red hair spiked up just at the front, and so you could see the clear look of worry and annoyance in his eyes as he looked down at the barely 6-year-old.

He had a more traditional Uzumaki look. He wore a grey jacket with a large Uzumaki swirl design on the back. Underneath he wore a black long sleeve shirt and black sweatpants. He wasn't wearing any sandals at the moment and he decided to let his legs loose; swinging them back and forth over the edge of the branch.

"Come on, you can't just always train!" The young redhead complained, throwing his hands into the air. "Maybe we could practice Ninjutsu together?" Idoru suggested finally as he tried to somehow sway the other Uzumaki to his side.

Naruto's eyes seemed to twitch at that and he turned to Idoru, his miscolored eyes widening a little at that suggestion. Idoru smirked to himself for catching the younger boy's attention: finally.

"Yeah! Kaa-San said that I'd need to learn the Bunshin No Jutsu to become a Genin, so I decided to learn that early. Wanna learn it with me?" Idoru asked Naruto, who sighed and suddenly, all of his interest dropped again. He turned away from his cousin and started to walk away, but Udoru jumped down and waved his fist in the air.

"HEY! At least say something! What's wrong with the Bunshin?!" Idoru asked the shorter boy with annoyance in his voice. Naruto stopped and turned back to Idoru; his slightly longer hair swaying in the wind.

"I've already learned it," Naruto told Idoru. "It was pretty basic to learn, so I used learning it as a chakra control exercise," Naruto said calmly, which caused Idoru to raise an eyebrow.

"Yeah right. Some of my friends can't even pull it off yet." Idoru said with a scoff. He crossed his arms across his chest and took a step back from Naruto. The younger boy looked up at him with big eyes, and Idoru couldn't tell what was going through Naruto's head.

Ever since Naruto came to the house, Idoru had adored the younger boy's company. It was almost like having a little brother, and that was what Idoru had wanted more than anything else in the worst. Well, that, and becoming a Genin of course. In the beginning, though, Naruto was more receptive and would play games with him more often. However, ever since Naruto started to train the Ninja arts; Naruto and training had been inseparable. The only time that Idoru could find to spend with Naruto would be at breakfast, lunch, dinner, before bed, and IF Naruto let Idoru train with him.

Frankly, Idoru couldn't understand how Naruto could spend so much time _reading_ and then training until he passed out. And then the next day he'd wake up as if nothing had happened, and start it all again. Just watching Naruto made him tired. It was no wonder that he would be able to do the Bunshin.

"You don't believe me?" Naruto asked innocently. A look of confusion crossed his face and Oduro crossed his arms tighter across his chest.

It wasn't that he didn't believe Naruto; because he'd _seen_ the pure and strange talent that _oozed_ out of the kid. I mean, who hadn't? If someone even spent 2 minutes watching the boy train, they'd know he was definitely beyond gifted. But it was a simple fact that Idoru didn't _want_ to believe Naruto. So he shook his head and turned away from Naruto with a pout on lips.

"Prove it!"

Naruto shrugged his shoulders and formed the seal with his hands. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Chakra began to form around his feet and began to swirl around him like a liquid. Idoru turned his head back in shock, having not seen chakra move in such a way. The chakra poured out of Naruto like a tap, yet it was as potent and _thick_ as a solid. It wasn't rare for Uzumaki members to have large chakra supplies, but this _quality_ was far greater than anything he'd seen before.

" **Bushin No Jutsu!** "

And with that, four perfect-looking clones popped into existence around Naruto. They all turned to Idoru and stuck out their tongues before they all dispelled back into nothingness. The real Naruto stuck out his tongue as an 'I told you so', before running up to Idoru and looking up at him with childish glee.

"Told ya I could do it! I learned about it from a scroll I read!"

Idoru grumpily groaned and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. ' _Of course. This kid picks up things like it's riding a bike...'_ He turned away from Naruto and started walking back towards the house. The ten-year-old was pretty shocked to hear the sound of footsteps following behind him. When he turned, he saw Naruto following him silently.

"You coming inside now too?" Idoru asked in shock. Naruto nodded his head and flashed Idoru the best smile he could muster in his exhausted state.

"Hai!"

They both walked into the house and as soon as they entered, Naruto headed upstairs. Naruto walked up the stairs and immediately to Arashi's room. When he opened the door, he saw another redhead playing a game of 'tag' with Arashi.

Arashi's straight red hair only reached down to right above his eyes, which allowed his bright blue eyes to shine happily. A big smile was on his face as he chased the older redhead around on his small speedy. Naruto smiled down at his little brother, his face suddenly brightening up like a light bulb.

Despite the events surrounding Arashi's birth, Naruto had never felt any ill-will towards him. He knew it wasn't Arashi's fault. ' _The masked man…_ ' Naruto thought with seething anger, but he held it down. Arashi kept crawling after Karin; both not knowing that Naruto was even at the door.

Naruto took his exit from the room and gently closed the door behind him. He looked down at himself and sighed at the amount of dirt on his clothes.

' _I really need to ask Kizura-Chan to bring me clothes shopping for some training clothes.'_ Naruto made a mental note for yourself before he went to take a shower.

Once he was out and changed into a clean set of shorts, Naruto went into his room and sat down on his bed. He let his legs hand off the edge while he reached under his pillow and pulled out a letter. No matter what happened in a day, he would always find time to read it. It was what motivated him to keep going.

' _From your Otousan._

 _Miss you buddy! As you were probably told, this letter was only to be given to you in the possibility of my death! I'm so sorry… I'm not sure how old you are now, but either way, I'm so very proud of you! I know you'll turn out to be incredible!_

 _I know you're probably still small, but I have my first ninja mission for you! It's extremely important and will last a lifetime, so I'll give it an S-Rank! The mission is this; to take care of Arashi-Chan and your Kaasan! They'll need you now that I'm gone. Whatever way you can. I know you're strong. After all, you're my son._

 _I have a few more things to tell you. Some of which are for you to learn, and some of which completely baffles me._

 _For one, in the event of my death, all of my funds will be given to you and your mother. If something, Kami-forbid, happened to your mother, then all of the funds would fall to you. Use it responsibly. I'll have Kizura-Chan watch what you're buying, and you know how she is about spending money unnecessarily!_

 _But that isn't the only thing that I left for you! In the house, in my office and in the library, I left all of my scrolls on Taijutsu, Ninjutsu, my studies in sealing, the sage arts, and pretty much all of the history of the elemental nations. I made sure to collect as much as I could so that you and your brother would have plenty to study on!_

 _Don't try to learn Sage Jutsu on your own! It's extremely dangerous, okay? Jiraiya will teach you one day, hopefully, and if not, you'll know when you're ready._

 _Anyways, onto the second point! Take your training seriously! I probably don't need to tell you this, because you seemed to like it just as much as I did. But keep it up! Don't let anything stop you from your training. Not even the fact that you're a natural at most of the Shinobi Arts. If you make it a habit, I'm sure you'll become the great Shinobi you always told me that you wanted to be!_

 _Thirdly, it involves your chakra. You probably wouldn't have noticed, but your chakra is very unique. There's only one example of it that I've found, and it is baffling, to say the least. From what I've been able to gather, only the First Hokage had chakra like yours. Extremely potent and full of life, yet gentle and liquid like. It is said that the reason he could mix his two elements and manipulate the Wood Element was due to his chakra being like this._

 _It was unknown and mysterious then, and I'm not having much luck figuring it out now. But whatever it means, I'd say it just cements the fact that you're going to become an awesome ninja, just like your Otousan! :D_

 _Lastly, always remember that I LOVE YOU SO MUCH! I wish I could have spent more time with you but just remember that I'll always be rooting for you and I'll always love you forever!_

 _Goodbye, my little ball of sunshine! Live long, and live well. Until we meet again!_

 _To Naruto Namikaze_

Naruto stared down at the letter for the hundredth time, not a tear coming to his eyes. He'd cried enough for a lifetime. It was time for action. The first time he had read the letter, he'd taken the words into his heart, and began to training.

He'd gone through a few of his father's Taijutsu scrolls and learned as much as he could from them. Although they would be quite effective to combat in a fight with someone his own size, he wasn't going to lie to himself into believing that he would be able to take on an actual adult with a strength-based Taijutsu. Not while he was still this short. That's where his father's speed-based styles came into play.

Naruto melted into them like a sponge. He wasn't very strong (without enhancing his fists with his chakra of course), but he definitely was fast. And although he wasn't even close to figuring out his father's Hiraishin, he could still use the Shunshin Jutsu, albeit only at a short range currently. He was still learning it, after all.

Naruto decided to take a pause on the stronger Ninjutsu until he was a tiny bit more advanced with his Taijutsu and his strategy making. Sure he'd learn a few, but first, he wanted to make sure that he could fight well enough. The only people he'd sparred with recently were Idoru and Sasuke, and so he couldn't use them as a measuring stick to see if he was even Genin level.

The Ninjutsu that he had taken time to learn was the Bunshin, Shushin, and the Henge. All pretty basic and easy to do, and all very useful when you use it correctly. Apart from those, the only thing he practiced that involved chakra was his chakra control. He'd gotten tree walking down, and was working on water walking.

Interestingly enough, Naruto had found quite a bit more than Minato's things in the Namikaze estate. Inside was also all of Kushina's things. Because of her coma; all of her things were given to Naruto and Arashi. This included all of her scrolls on sealing and her own personal notes on the Uzumaki traditions and Jutsu.

The thing that caught Naruto's attention the most was the notes on sealing, and the Uzumaki Adamantine chains; Strong enough to even restrain a Bijuu. He was making considerable ground with the sealing, but the chains were coming along… Slower…

He was sure that the older ninja in the clan would help him out if he asked, but he'd never gotten around to it. Or maybe he was too embarrassed to ask? He wasn't even sure himself. But what he did know, was that he had a lot more to learn.

He needed a teacher.

"Naruto!" Kizura's voice from downstairs broke Naruto out of his thoughts. He carefully curled the letter back into its original form and put it back under his pillow, before heading downstairs.

When he got there, Kizura was just putting Arashi down into his highchair for dinner. At the table, Karin sat near Arashi and her mother, while Idoru sat on the other side. Idoru patted down the seat next to him and Naruto ran over to the seat and sat. Kizura brought the food over to the table and sat down with them.

"I hope you all behaved yourselves while I was gone!" Kizura said with a chuckle and a big smile. Naruto's felt weird on the inside and his smile slightly dropped. Even now, Kizura still reminded him of his mother.

"They weren't too bad. I was training outside with Naru-Chan while Karin kept Arashi-Chan busy." Idoru told his mother truthfully, into which she nodded. They were never badly behaved when she was gone. I mean, until Arashi started screaming…

"How was Arashi-Chan today?" Kizura asked her daughter, who beamed up and almost jumped out of her seat.

"Awesome, as always! We're practicing talking and I think he's getting better at saying our names!" Karin explained proudly, as she turned to Arashi, who was wiggling around in his high seat. "Ari-Chan! Say, Karin!" Karin encouraged.

"Rin-Chan! Rin-Chan!" Arashi pronounced happily, his face lighting up in happiness as he did. Karin awkwardly sighed in disappointment; down because he couldn't get her name right.

"He'll get it eventually." Kizura chuckled at her daughter's attempt. Arashi could pronounce a lot of things around the house, but names were always hard for him. Although they all wished for the younger Uzumaki to learn their names, Karin got the most frustrated out of the group.

"Hey Idoru-San, can you help me learn something?" Naruto asked his cousin, who instantly turned and nodded, eager to spend some time with Naruto.

"What is it?" Idoru asked Naruto, his eyebrows peaked.

"The Adamantine chains. I hear it's one of Uzumaki clans specialties, and I really wanted to learn it!" Naruto asked, into which Idoru nervously chuckled.

"About that… I'm still learning to use them myself." Idoru chuckled to himself. Naruto's face seemed to fall a little, but Idoru quickly grabbed his attention back. "But that doesn't mean we can't learn them together! I know the basics, but I'm sure my teacher wouldn't mind helping you learn them too!"

Naruto's face lit up once again and he jumped up and hugged his older relative as tight as he could. He thanked him a few more times over dinner before they all went to bed.

"You seem to be growing quite well, Naruto-Kun…"

A person in a dog-shaped ANBU mask sat outside on a tree outside of the house, looking into Naruto's room. His gravity-defying white hair swayed in the wind before he vanished into the night sky.

* * *

 **That will be all for this chapter. Honestly, I was planning on going a completely different, more action-packed chapter, but I changed my mind and went for a more filler chapter. The facts are important, though.**

 **Next chapter will probably still be before he joins the academy, and will MAYBE include the day that he joins. That chapter will either come out tomorrow night or in two weeks (as I'll be traveling to another state without my laptop). Sorry!**

 **I appreciate all of the wonderful reviews! It really is extra fuel that is helping me to continue. Keep on reviewing and let me know what you liked, or look forward to seeing. (sorry again that this chapter wasn't as action-packed as before. I assure you that it is coming. But I didn't want this to become a "Naruto instantly becomes untouchable" story. There will be development and... Let me stop talking now XD You'll see.**


	3. Butterflies

"Naruto-Baka! Wait up!"

A black haired boy chased behind Naruto as fast as he could, but the blonde kept running into the wooded area. Sasuke Uchiha stared at the back of his best friend as he chased after him. He could have sworn that the red Uzumaki swirl was burned into his memory. The blonde was simply too fast for him to catch up with.

Ever since Naruto moved into the Uzumaki compound, their friendship had slightly dwindled. Not completely, and not even a lot; but enough for Sasuke to notice. And he didn't like that. That was why he was so happy whenever Naruto showed up at his house to take him out and play with him! Well, more like training, but who didn't like training?!

Naruto had told him that he'd recently got down the basics of the Uzumaki clan's signature chakra chains, but he wasn't sure why he'd taken him so far away from their compounds just to show him that.

"We're here!" Naruto shouted as he halted to a stop. Sasuke stopped running once he reached Naruto and realized that they were in a training area, on the outskirts of Konoha. It wasn't very fancy, though. It was flat, with a single small stream flowing down it. There were trees on one side and a few test targets lined up near the edge of the water.

"What so special about this place?" Sasuke asked, a little bummed out by the plain looking environment. Naruto turned to his friend and shook his head in fake disappointment.

"Nothing really. But I figured that we could spar in a place that wasn't hindering either of us." Naruto told Sasuke, whose eyes shot up instantly.

"We're going to spar? Finally! I've been waiting to kick your ass since Itachi taught me that new technique!" Sasuke said cockily. Naruto shook his head at Sasuke and smiled, his excitement growing.

"Okay, the rules are easy. No killing and no bad injuries. I'm not sure if your mom would let us train anymore if you came home bloodied." Naruto teased with his tongue out, into which Sasuke scoffed.

"As IF you could beat me. I'm the Hokage's son!"

"Well, I'm the Yondaime Hokage's son! And I've beaten you a bunch of times before!"

"Pssh yeah right! That was before Itachi started training me!"

"We'll see about that!"

Naruto and Sasuke jumped back from each other and got into positions a good distance from each other. Sasuke got into the classic Uchiha stance, albeit a little crooked. Naruto settled for a stance with his right leg and arm extended in front of him. His right hand was a firm fist, and his left was loose. His legs were prepped as if he was ready to run.

' _This should be interesting.'_ The dog-masked ANBU silently sat in a tree nearby and watched.

"BEGIN!"

Both boys ran at each other at the same time. Naruto seemed to keep the same pace as Sasuke, until they began to close in on each other. In what seemed to be an instant, Naruto sped up and closed the gap in a moment. Sasuke's eyes widened in shock as the Namikaze swiveled on his heel swung his elbow at Sasuke's face.

Sasuke barely had time to lean back, but he did, and Naruto's elbow went flying just above his nose. Once successfully over the attack, Sasuke turned to face Naruto's exposed back and went for an ax kick. However, just in time, Naruto dodged to the side.

"Too slow, teme!"

Naruto pulled out a dull wooden kunai from his pouch and cut at Sasuke's chest. Sasuke jumped back just in time, but before he could counter again, Naruto was already in front of him, swinging his knife in an effort to hit Sasuke.

The Uchiha heir dodged barely, and it seemed like the more time passed, the faster Naruto was getting. ' _Tsk… He's too fast!_ ' Sasuke could hear the rushing water behind him as he inched back step by step towards it. He knew exactly what Naruto was going to try to do. Put him in the water and end the match there. But Sasuke wasn't about to let that happen.

Sasuke reached into his pouch to pull out a wooden kunai, but before he did, Naruto grabbed his arm tightly, disabling his ability to pull out the kunai.

"Checkmate, Sasuke! You lose!" Naruto gloated with a smile on his face. He was confused when he saw Sasuke smiling at him back.

"Yeah right! I already told you! I'm not like I was before!"

Sasuke positioned his leg between Naruto's open legs and swept to the left, catching Naruto off guard and sweeping one of his legs off the ground. With his free hand, Sasuke swung for Naruto's stomach and landed a clean blow, knocking the air out of his lungs.

Without missing a beat, Sasuke dropped down onto his back, with Naruto following him down, having only loosened his grip slightly. Once on his back, Sasuke put both of his legs on Naruto's stomach, and rolled back, before kicking his legs out. This maneuver launched Naruto away from Sasuke and over the surface of the stream.

' _It worked!'_ Sasuke thought in his head in glee. A moment later, he rolled back onto his feet and jumped up. He looked out onto the lake and saw Naruto… Standing on the lake? Confusion and frustration flashed across Sasuke's face, which only caused Naruto to grin.

"How did you-"

"Never talk to your opponent during a spa!" Naruto interrupted him with a shout and charged at Sasuke much faster than before. While he ran across the surface of the water, Naruto threw the kunai in his hand at the confused Uchiha, who didn't have time to dodge it. The wooden kunai struck him in his shoulder and the shock of pain traveled through his body.

' _Argh! He threw it so hard!_ ' By the time Sasuke managed to look up to where Naruto was a second ago, the blonde was already gone.

"Where did y-" And that was when Sasuke saw the shadow. He snapped his head up as fast as he could, but by then it was too late.

When Sasuke looked down because of the pain, Naruto had used his chakra to propel himself into the air and above Sasuke's immediate vision. By the time Sasuke managed to look up, Naruto was only inches from his face, with a tight fist and a victorious grin.

The punch wasn't nearly Naruto's strongest but when it hit across Sasuke's face, it sent him to sleep pretty quickly. The young Namikaze chuckled as he settled Sasuke's unconscious body onto the grass, and went to stand next to a tree nearby.

"It isn't nice to go easy on your opponents."

Naruto pulled out a real kunai quicker then he could blink, and turned upwards to look at the tree above him. However, when he saw who it was, he put the kunai back in his pouch slowly.

"Kakashi-San!" Naruto announced with a smile, as he looked up at the white-haired ANBU. His dog mask was sealed back into his arm, the seal still visible on his sleeveless arm.

Kashi wore a black Chunin vest and black pants with many pocket holes in them. His arms were sleeveless, but he had on black gloves. His forehead protector lazily sat over his eye.

"Oi."

Kakashi jumped down to Naruto's level, but the boy didn't stand up to hug him as he'd usually do with others. Instead, Naruto offered Kakashi a thumbs up, which Kakashi gladly returned.

"Was you watching us this whole time?" Naruto asked Kakashi curiously, into which Kakashi shrugged his shoulders.

"Was I?"

"I asked first," Naruto said with a casual dismissal. Almost every conversation with Kakashi went like this, no matter how many weeks or months had gone by since they'd seen each other. "Anyways, what were you saying about the spar?"

"You shouldn't go easy on him. You're not helping anyone." Kakashi told Naruto, who sighed and turned his head away from Kakashi. He knew it was true, but…

"But it would be unfair for me to keep beating him. He'd start to hate me." Naruto grumbled, despite knowing the truth in Kakashi's statement. Kakashi looked off at the sleeping Sasuke as he put his hands in his pockets.

"Tell me. If he went up against an enemy ninja and died because he thought his skills were good enough to compete with you, would _that_ be fair to him?" Kakashi asked the younger boy, who sighed and sat back against the tree.

"I know… I won't go easy on him from now on." Naruto decided, which made Kakashi nod his head in approval. Naruto turned his head to the ANBU and gave him a quizzical look. "Why are you here anyway? Aren't you supposed to be off on a mission?"

"We came back last night. Just in time to see this little show." Kakashi teased, followed by an eye smile. Naruto shook his head and closed his eyes.

"So I was doing some reading and I found out that you became a Genin at 5 years old? How did you become so strong at so young?" Naruto asked Kakashi finally, having wondered it for a very long time.

"Truthfully, I wasn't as strong back then as the stories make me out to be. Because of the Third Ninja war, Konoha was pumping out Genin like honey in a beehive. The average graduating age back then was seven. I was just two years ahead." Kakashi said as he shrugged his shoulders. Naruto wasn't convinced, however, and he pressed on.

"I know about that, but you were still two years ahead of everyone else. Who did you train with? How did you organize your training schedule?" Naruto pressed on, and Kakashi's turned to face the smaller boy.

"Oh, that's simple. I had a teacher."

Naruto sighed and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. The only teacher he had at the moment was the old man that had helped him and Idoru get the basics of the chains. But he didn't know much else and refused to teach them more about the Adamantine Chains abilities until they were Genin.

"Dang… Well, I haven't been able to find a teacher… But I wish I had one." Naruto thought out loud, which got Kakashi thinking.

Truth be told, Kakashi had been thinking about training Naruto whenever he could, but he wasn't sure if Naruto would be interested in learning under someone else. Kakashi knew from watching Naruto, that the boy was particularly gifted, and if steered in the right direction, he would only get better. But now that he knew Naruto was actually interested in getting a teacher, that changed the game.

"Hey, Naruto-Kun. If wanted, I could always be your teacher. Until you get a real Sensei, of course." Kakashi suggested. Naruto's eyes almost popped out of their sockets at the sound of the idea, and he jumped up and turned to Kakashi. There were stars in his eyes as he looked at his potential new teacher, but before he could speak, Kakashi interrupted him.

"But first, you have to get past my test."

Kakashi's snickering was clear, even under his mask. Naruto's face suddenly got serious; much more serious than Kakashi had ever seen it previously. Naruto stood up straight and gave Kakashi a waist length bow, before looking up at him with a plain expression.

"Whatever the test, I'll pass it," Naruto said emotionlessly. Kakashi almost died laughing when he realized who he was trying to imitate.

"Oh man, that's a killer Itachi expression." Kakashi chuckled as he recovered from his laughter. "Drop the formalities. I'm still the same Kakashi. Just because I'm teaching in the Ninja Arts doesn't make me some form of royalty."

Naruto rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, an awkward and broken smile on his face. He'd really thought that was the correct way to address a sensei. Man, he'd been hanging out with Itachi too much…

But nonetheless, he _would_ take this test as seriously as he could. He needed to protect his family, which didn't just include Arashi and his mother now. But all of the Uzumaki clan. And to do that, he _needed_ to be stronger. And to be stronger, he needed a teacher.

Kakashi was just that, and a strong one at that.

"The test is this… You have to come at me with all you've got. If you manage to get a scratch on me, then you can become my student." Kakashi declared simply and was shocked to see the determined look in Naruto's eyes. It reminded him of Minato. He could practically see his sensei in the boy.

"Hai. I'm ready." Naruto told Kakashi, who raised an eyebrow and stepped out into the field.

"You don't want to go back home and collect your weapons first?" Kakashi asked. Naruto shook his head and looked up at Kakashi with a cheeky grin on his face.

"I keep them on me at all times. They're contained in seals on my arms." Naruto revealed while showing Kakashi his arm. Kakashi looked down at Naruto's forearm, but couldn't see anything. However, once he started looking for any signs of chakra, he noticed faint signatures all over Naruto's arms.

"Did you make these yourself?" Kakashi asked. Naruto nodded, and although Kakashi was shocked, he didn't let it show. It was rare to be able to seal in Konoha, and Naruto was already showing good progress in the field. He wondered what else Naruto knew in the art of sealing.

"Are you sure that you need no more time before we begin?" Kakashi asked Naruto, who nodded his head in confirmation.

His face turned serious, and he got into his favorite styles as of yet. His legs were propped up on the ground like springs, ready to burst into action. One of the seals on his arm began to glow, and a moment later, the white tanto sword that Kakashi had given to Naruto on his fourth birthday appeared in Naruto's open palm.

"Begin," Kakashi said lazily. He put both of his hands in his pockets and eyed Naruto carefully.

Naruto didn't fall for the bait of feeling underestimated and simply continued as he would have. ' _But how can I even hit him? I'm not even an academy student yet!_ ' Naruto shook the negative thoughts out of his head and steadied himself for the battle to come.

It wasn't a question of if he could hit Kakashi. He simply had to. But how!? The Namikaze thought out a plan of action in his head quickly and then he began the operation.

Naruto kicked off the ground as hard as he could, using chakra to propel him towards Kakashi at the fastest speed he could muster. In a few moments, he was right in front of Kakashi and went for a simple stab at Kakashi's side. The advanced Jonin simply took a step to the side, dodging it effectively.

However, Naruto anticipated it, and a kunai poofed into his left hand. ' _At such a close range, it will be harder for him to dodge_!' Naruto thought as he swiveled his body to the left and slashed at Kakashi's torso with the kunai.

Kakashi took a step back and the Kunai missed him. Naruto didn't give up there, however, and dashed closer to Kakashi, slashing his two short blades in an attempt to cut into the cyclops.

' _He's good. Fast and his formation isn't bad. He's done well to get this far without a teacher_ ' Kakashi thought to himself as he dodged another slash that barely missed a blade of his silver hair. A few moments later, Kakashi jumped backward, gaining some distance away from his opponent.

Naruto wasn't even panting yet, and he looked more determined than ever. Kakashi's hands didn't leave his pant pockets, and he mockingly curved his eyes into an eye smile, trying to provoke the kid.

" **Bunshin No Jutsu,** " Naruto whispered to himself as he formed the seal over with his kunai. Four perfect Bunshin appeared next to him, without the illusion of the smoke to cover them. Kakashi raised an eyebrow at this.

"You know, you're usually supposed to use that Jutsu with smoke so that the opponent isn't sure which one is you." Kakashi pointed out, into which Naruto let out a sliver of a smirk. A moment later, they all sped into different directions, forming a loose circle around Kakashi.

' _The Shunshin? He's already got two of the academy techniques down, and one without seals…'_ Kakashi analyzed silently. The clones all got into a fighting position, each with a kunai and a tanto blade in hand. Kakashi couldn't tell which ones were real and which one was the real Naruto, and he sure as heck wasn't going to pull out his Sharingan on a 6 and a half-year-old.

All of the clones bent down and rolled up their pants, and took off the weights on their legs. Kakashi raised an eyebrow at this, having not expected Naruto to even wear weights. Heck, he hadn't started weighted training until he was a Chunin.

One of the Naruto's seals lit up, and a large straight edged Fuma Shuriken popped out of it. That Naruto held the huge shuriken in his hand and prepared to throw it. Before he could, though, one of the other Naruto's suddenly blurred into Kakashi's field of view, high in the air and coming down in a slicing motion for Kakashi's torso.

Kakashi's eyes widened at the skill at which Naruto was using the Shushin, but had to snap out of his shock to dodge the sword from slicing across his face. What didn't help either, was that because he dodged the attack, he couldn't tell if it was a clone or not…

' _Is this what he had planned the entire time?_ '

' _Good, as I thought. He's going to continue dodging…_ ' Naruto thought to himself as he sat in wait.

When the first Naruto hit the ground after his attempted attack, the other three burst into action, using their own high-speed movements to attack at much faster speeds than before. Kakashi was beginning to sweat at the intensity of the battle, having not expected this much resistance. He was going to make Naruto his student either way and was simply using this test to see how far along he was.

This just showed him that Naruto was a little further along then he originally thought.

One of the Naruto did a backflip into the air and simultaneously threw his kunai at Kakashi. Kakashi dodged by bending his body backward. However, a few moments before said kunai flew over Kakashi's body, the same clone threw the tanto knife at the midair kunai with much more power and strength.

Kakashi's eyes widened in shock at the maneuver, knowing exactly where it was going. The tanto hit the kunai perfectly, which changed its direction and send it straight for Kakashi's compromised and bent body. Kakashi had to think quickly, or risk getting a kunai right in his chest.

One of his hands came out of his pockets and supported his body as he twisted just in time to dodge the Kunai by a mere blade of hair. Kakashi cursed when he saw another Naruto blur into action right above him, going in for a stab at Kakashi's neck. The older ninja barely managed to roll out of the way in time, and quickly jumped to his feet.

"Gotcha!"

Kakashi's eyes widened in shock as the voice not far behind him shouted. He turned his head enough to see the Naruto with the Fuma shuriken already mid-throw, the shuriken already leaving his fingertips. The Shuriken span at insane speeds across the field and Kakashi didn't have time to wonder how Naruto could have possibly throw it with such strength.

It was coming way too low for Kakashi to duck under it, and three of the Naruto's were still surrounding Kakashi, so he jumped up into the air. It wasn't until he was already in the air when he realized two things.

One, the Fuma shuriken phased right through one of the clones, proving that they were both fakes.

Secondly, weren't there five Naruto's?

Kakashi turned in mid-air, just in time to catch Naruto's knife-wielding hand, the white tanto only inches from his face. He didn't have much time to think, as Naruto twisted in the air and send a kick at Kakashi's face. Kakashi used the momentum of the fall to bend backward and avoid the kick.

As they approached the ground, Kakashi tried to pull away from Naruto, but the blonde growled in defiance and he dropped the tanto, opting to clutch on to Kakashi's arm instead.

"I won't lose that easily!" Naruto shouted, and Kakashi's eyes widened. A few golden chains wrapped around Naruto's arm like a snake, and swiftly wrapped around Kakashi's arms. Kakashi recognized his chains immediately as the Uzumaki Adamantine chains, and for the last time in this fight, his eye widened in pure shock.

"You can't dodge at this range!"

Naruto used the momentum of the fall and used his free hand, which still held the kunai, and drove with all of his might down into Kakashi's stomach. The chains kept Kakashi into place, and his eyes were still open in surprise when the kunai entered into his stomach.

"Gah!" Kakashi gasped loudly as his body went limp. They hit the ground a moment later, and Naruto was engulfed in white smoke. The blonde flailed around in confusion, which dispelled the smoke quite effectively.

"And that was the end of the test."

Naruto untensed and sighed, as he put away his weapons and dispelled his clones. He looked around for Kakashi, who he found sitting down on a nearby tree with his face in a book.

Naruto had sweat beads dripping down his forehead, and was very confused as to how Kakashi managed to burst into a cloud of smoke… But a few moments later, the realization that he'd actually hit Kakashi came to him, and his body lit up in happiness.

"I did it! I did it!" Naruto shouted as he jumped up and down in happiness. "How did I do Kakashi-Sensei?!" Naruto asked suddenly, as he ran up to Kakashi and jumped to the branch that Kakashi was sitting on.

"I'll take you on as my student. You fought well. From now on, whenever I'm not on a mission, we'll meet here at 8 am." Kakashi declared from behind his book as if he was uninterested. Naruto straightened up and bowed before he became overjoyed and ran off to find Sasuke on the other end of the training ground.

Inside, Kakashi's mind was reeling in pure shock and surprise. He'd known the boy was good, but not to this level. Not a single Genin had managed to touch him before, trying or not. Yet this kid managed to _not only_ trick him but also form an ingenious strategy and dispel one of his shadow clones!

' _He's definitely your kid sensei… Dang, what did I just get myself into…?_ '

* * *

 **Night before Naruto's Academy Orientation**

"Why can't you just sign up to be the sensei for a genin squad?"

"Because I don't _want_ to be the sensei for a genin squad."

"But you'd be a good teacher. Definitely lazy… But reasonably good." Naruto bugged Kakashi as they walked through a training area early in the morning. Teacher and student walked side by side, Kakashi's head in his orange book and Naruto frantically trying to convince him to become a _real_ sensei in four years.

It had been a year and a half since they started training, and Naruto was now 8 years old! Naruto now stood a good deals taller then he did before. He was about 4 and-a-half feet tall, just over the average for people his age. The blonde and red hair on his head grew slightly longer, now roughly covering his eyes when he let it loose.

As his typical 'shinobi clothes' he wore a black fishnet shirt, which had a black shinobi jacket on top (think what Kakashi wears underneath his Jonin). His pants were almost identical to the jacket, except the fact that it had two Uzumaki patterns on it near the pockets. On his back, there was a long Katana strapped. Apart from that, he didn't have any other ninja equipment on his body.

The katana looked like an ordinary blade, but with a blood red hilt. It was smaller than most blades, as Naruto was till child-sized. The cover for the blade was actually a dark black, as Kakashi had told Naruto that too much attention could cost him his life.

Kakashi looked pretty much the same, except for the fact that he had a _new_ orange book in hand… Naruto never quite understood what Kakashi found so interesting in that book. Whenever he tried to catch a glimpse at it, Kakashi would hide it. Soon enough, he'd given up completely.

"I quite enjoy going on my ANBU missions, thank you very much." Kakashi sighed, as Naruto kept bickering him. Naruto shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Whatever. You better change your mind in the next four years, because I won't accept any other sensei!" Naruto said in defiance, into which Kakashi scoffed. Naruto raised his eyebrow and turned to Kakashi in confusion.

"What's so funny?" Naruto asked, suspicious of his sensei.

"You won't last four years in there. Trust me." Kakashi chuckled to himself, into which Naruto looked on in confusion.

In all truthfulness, Naruto didn't have any idea what to expect from the academy. All he really knew was that his friends would be there. Idoru refused to talk about school whenever he was home as if it had traumatized him. Naruto didn't understand why Idoru hated learning so much but shrugged it off.

"So will this be the last time you teach me?" Naruto asked Kakashi, who shrugged his shoulder in response.

"I'll keep training you until you get a 'real sensei'. Wasn't that the deal?" Kakashi asked, into which Naruto sighed and looked down at the ground.

Truthfully enough, Naruto didn't _want_ a new sensei. Kakashi was a good teacher to him and like a big brother. Sure, there were plenty of other things he could learn from other people, but… ' _No, stop being so closed minded, idiot. Kakashi isn't the only capable Ninja in Konoha_.' Naruto thought to himself.

"We've gone over quite a lot in the last year in a half, hmm, Naruto-San?" Kakashi asked, which caught Naruto's attention. They finally reached where they had been walking too. They looked up at the waterfall that fell down above them, as they stood at the bank of the river that sprung from the bottom.

"Yes. We covered much more then I could have wished for." Naruto said with a nod. Every bit of that sentence was true. When Kakashi had a student, he had a _soldier_. Every morning they'd meet and train their butts off until Naruto was too tired to carry on. Whenever it got too easy for Naruto, Kakashi would always increase the difficulty.

Naruto had continued to increase the weights on his legs, every week. However, even with them on, Naruto was still unnaturally fast for his age. Especially in combination with his Shunsin, which he'd now perfected to an incredible degree.

The first thing that Kakashi helped Naruto in was his limited Ninjutsu arsenal. First, they perfected the three basic Jutsu that Naruto knew, getting them all down seal-less. Kakashi couldn't help him much with the Adamantine chains, but he sure helped him learn a few more Jutsu.

A low-rank medical Jutsu which could heal him in a battle, if needed. His Uzumaki genes helped him heal faster, but that was over time, not immediately. In a battle, an open wound isn't going to heal without a medical Jutsu or an incredibly strong healing ability.

They went over a few other basic useful Jutsu before Kakashi decided that Naruto could discover his nature affinity. Kakashi remembered the day vividly, as it had been the most bizarre result he'd ever seen.

They had been both sitting down in the training ground that they'd met in. Naruto insisted on using his own elemental paper, which he'd created using a sealing formula he'd been working on. Kakashi didn't object….

That was until the impossible happened. First, the paper got a million tiny cuts in it, and then parts of it started to crumble into dust. After that, the paper started to wrinkle. This showed three affinities. Earth, Lightning, and wind. Kakashi had just opened his mouth to explain the meaning of this before the paper transformed.

It split into three different parts. One-third of the paper started to _vibrate_ at unimaginable speeds. The other third turned into steel, while was heavy enough to tear itself free from the others. However, before it hit the floor, the last piece of paper began to glow slightly, and the steel began to float towards it as if the paper was now a magnet…

Kakashi ordered Naruto to try it again, but with Kakashi's own elemental paper. The same result occurred over and over again. When Naruto asked what it meant, Kakashi wasn't how to answer.

What he settled with was that Naruto seemed to have developed three Kekkai Genkai _out of thin air_. The combinations of his three elements. And from what Kakashi could tell, one was Magnet Release, the other Steel Release, and the last one seemed to be something to do with speed. In the history books, they called it the Swift Release.

But how did _Naruto_ get these Kekkai Genkai? He didn't remember Minato telling him anything about any Kekkai Genkai, and one visit to the Uzumaki compound and they told him that Kushina didn't have any Kekkai Genkai that they knew of…

It only started to make sense when Naruto told him a part of the letter that Minato had left for him.

Naruto's chakra was definitely a mystery, and for whatever reason, it someone how managed to combine Naruto's elemental affinities into three separate Kekkai Genkai. Naturally, Kakashi had to report it to the Hokage immediately.

Fugaku was just as shocked and confused as Kakashi had been. He'd requested for Tsunade to come back a few months short of when she originally intended, to come and figure out what was going on inside of Naruto's body. This was only a few months prior, so she hadn't arrived yet, and they still didn't know why Naruto had so many Kekkai Genkai.

But Naruto wasn't complaining. When he found out, he ran back to his home and was practically bouncing off the walls. They'd all celebrated with him, but the next Kakashi dropped the news on him. Just because you have a natural affinity for an element, doesn't mean you automatically can use that element with ease. He still had to train his ability to use the element.

And that was the stage that Naruto was currently at. Improving his elemental manipulation with various exercises. Sometimes he was using his chakra to try to cut a leaf open. Other times he was trying to turn a rock into rubble with just his chakra. And his least favorite of the three, he had to try to create sparks in his palm, without burning himself.

Fortunately, Kakashi had taught him the Kage Bunshin ability, so he didn't have to hurt himself directly. Naruto found the Jutsu incredibly useful, mainly for reading and studying up on even just to give him time to spend with his family. And it was DEFINITELY useful for improving his sealing. He could study a few sealing books at the same time. If he did say so himself, he was becoming quite prominent in the art.

Of course, Naruto could create quite a lot of Kage Bunshins, due to his overabundance of Uzumaki chakra, and the pure potency of his own unique chakra, but always settled for a more healthy number of 4 clones, whether it for learning, elemental manipulation training, or in a fight. At the moment, that was just the right amount that wouldn't give him an instant headache when they dispelled.

He found the clones particularly useful when it came to sealing, but even more so for his Taijutsu training. He could learn and perfect styles four times faster then he would normally be able to do on his own. And improving on his already existing styles was always a plus.

Also, now he always had a sparring partner!

"You want to do a spar tonight? I'll get to show you a new seal that I've been working on!" Naruto suggested eagerly. However, Kakashi waved him off, much to his annoyance.

"Not tonight. You have school in the morning, so you need some rest." Kakashi told Naruto, who grumbled but agreed. Kakashi looked down at the kid and smiled down at him from behind his mask.

He was truly proud of this one. Since Kakashi took him in, Naruto's already impressive Taijutsu styles skyrocketed. It was much more concrete and well-defined as they'd been before. Kakashi could confidently say that before he started training with him, Naruto was probably a little below Genin in terms of Taijutsu, now he was definitely a high Genin in terms of Taijutsu alone. He reached a cap in his already existing Taijutsu forms, after a short time. Some things can only be improved with field experience, which Naruto wouldn't have a chance to encounter until he became a fully-fledged Genin.

However, whenever he mastered one form, he'd always move onto the next. Naruto was prominent in quite a few different styles and was even starting to invent his own. It was coming along slowly, but it was a unique and interesting concept that Kakashi looked forward to seeing developed further.

"Just remember, if you get bored, you can always ask the teachers to give you the Genin exam." Kakashi threw in, into which Naruto chuckled nervously.

"Yeah right, it's not THAT boring… Is it?" Naruto asked and when Kakashi didn't reply, a huge anime sweatdrop appeared on top of his head.

"I'll see you around, my little student," Kakashi said his goodbye's to Naruto, as he reached over and messed with Naruto's hair. Before he could complain, his sensei vanished in a Shunsin, leaving Naruto all alone.

"I guess I'd better get home…" Naruto sighed to himself, as he turned to look at the waterfall for one last time. For a split second, Naruto could swear that he could make out a man standing on the top of the waterfall.

The man wore a long white kimono and had short spiky brown hair on his head; and from what Naruto could see, two braid locks that were covered by bandages. Bandages wrapped around his forehead too. The young looking man looked at peace as was staring down at Naruto.

Naruto rubbed his eyes and looked back up at the spot where the man was, only to find nothing there. He passed it off as his brain acting up, but the strange occurrences left a weird feeling in his stomach.

Who was that man in the white kimono?

"How was your training today, Naruto-Kun?"

They all sat in the living room of the house together. Idoru was now considerably taller, and his red hair had slightly smaller spikes as if he'd cut it recently. And even then, the little spikes were jelled back, which made the spikes point backward.

He wore a black Konoha forehead protector proudly; despite the fact that they were simply having family time now.

Idoru became a Genin of the leaf a few months prior, at the end of the last school year. They'd thrown a small party for him on the night, and ever since, he hadn't taken his forehead protector off… ' _Hopefully in the shower…_ ' Naruto thought to himself with a chuckle.

He'd been placed on a team with a female Uchiha and an Inuzuka, with their sensei being another Uzumaki. It looked like their team was being groomed for a 'Search and Destroy' position, with Idoru doubling as a healer and a destroyer.

His body obviously much better worked out than before, and you could tell that he took becoming a Ninja seriously. Even _with_ a shirt on, you could still see the development of muscles underneath.

In the house, he wore a simple white T-Shirt, which sported the Uzumaki swirl on the chest area. Naruto wore an identical shirt, and they both sported some ordinary shorts.

Karin had much longer red hair now, albeit slightly uneven. According to her, it was a design that she'd intended. Naruto wasn't complaining, he even said it looked 'kinda cool'. She'd grown to be a little shorter than Naruto, which made sense, as they'd been born at almost the same time.

She wore a simple pink kimono today and a pink flower was placed in her hair.

Kizura looked pretty much the same, Uzumaki vitality and all. The one that looked the most different, after Idoru, was little Arashi, who came zooming into the living room at the mention of his brother.

His hair was still as crimson and as straight as ever. Now, it was slicked back and reached just above his shoulders. He was growing about the same pace that Naruto had been, as Arashi was now the same age Naruto was a few months before the Kyuubi attacked.

Arashi had an incredible amount of endurance and stamina, even for an Uzumaki. If you put him down, he'd just get right back up. He couldn't stay still for longer than a minute, but they were working on that.

"Niisan!" Arashi squealed in delight, as he ran into Naruto's waiting arms. Arashi hugged him tightly, and Naruto hugged his little brother back tightly, before letting him go. Arashi went over to his two other 'siblings' and then to his 'kaasan', whom he hugged also, before returning to sit back down next to Naruto.

They still hadn't told Arashi that Kizura wasn't his birth mother, or that Idoru and Karin weren't his real siblings. They were planning on waiting a little longer for that. They weren't quite sure how his little 4-year-old mind would handle it.

"How was training? Did you learn any cool Jutsu? Any? Come on, I've been begging Idoru-San to show me one all day!" Arashi shot out like a machine gun. Naruto nervously rubbed the back of his head and sighed.

"Maybe later, Arashi-Chan," Naruto said with a smile. Although he didn't agree with the decision, Arashi smiled back at his brother and sat down next to him

"Are you ready for your first day at the academy?" Idoru asked his two younger 'siblings', who nodded furiously.

"I'm ready to show them just how powerful an Uzumaki Kunoichi can be!" Karin declared with fury in her voice. The others in the room sighed at her overexaggerating expressions, but let it slide.

"I can't say I'm excited. More like nervous… I don't know what to expect…" Naruto told Idoru with a shrug. Idoru smiled as he adjusted his forehead protector.

"Oh, don't worry. The academy will be a cakewalk for someone like you!" Idoru tried to cheer Naruto up and put his hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"I guess so.." Naruto chuckled to himself anxiously, once again rubbing the back of his head due to nerves. A nervous habit that he got from his father; or so they say.

"Oh come on, don't be ridiculous. You're going to do fine! I expect nothing less from my Ototo!" Idoru teased as he squeezed Naruto's cheeks; much to Naruto's dismay.

"Hey, can I go to the park with my friends?" Arashi got up from his seat and ran over to ask Kizura She smiled down at Arashi, who was beaming up at her with a large grin. "Pleasepleasepleaseplease!"

Kizura looked up and gave Naruto and Idoru a quick glance, and they knew what it meant. One of them would have to go with Arashi, just in case, another _incident_ arose. Said incident occurred a few months ago, and fortunate for Arashi, he still didn't understand what the civilians meant by 'Fox-child' and 'Demon-spawn'.

Fortunately, Idoru had been nearby and got to Arashi before the drunk idiots managed to actually do more than push the young Jinchuriki to the ground. Arashi defused the situation by taking the crying Arashi home.

The bigger problem had been stopping Naruto from going out and committing his first act of homicide...

When Naruto saw Arashi crying, and heard what happened, Idoru was sure that he hadn't seen Naruto look more furious in his life. Kizura, Idoru, and Karin almost had to _fight_ Naruto in an effort to calm him down. It had been the first real argument that Naruto had with Kizura.

Idoru shook his head and dispelled the memory. He looked to Naruto, whose face had turned a little sour. Before Naruto could volunteer, Idoru stood up and dusted himself off. He went over to Arashi and scooped him up and put Arashi on his shoulders before he quickly said his goodbyes and left the house.

"Bye guys!" Arashi managed to squeeze out before he vanished away and to the park with Idoru.

The room fell in silence again, and Naruto's face fell into a frown. He seemed to stare into nothingness for a few seconds, deep in thought. Kizura frowned and crossed her arms across her chest. She tried to make out whatever the boy was thinking, but as always, she was left with nothing.

"He'll be okay, Naruto-Kun." Karin stole the words right out of Kizura's mouth. Karin had a worried look on her face as she tried to comfort Naruto.

' _Maybe he'll listen if it's not coming from me.'_ Kizura thought hopefully, but the idea was completely squashed when Naruto stood up and shrugged off Karin's hand. He headed to the door quickly, but Kizura managed to get a word out before he left.

"Naruto-Kun!" Kizura called to him urgently, and to her surprise, he stopped halfway out of the door. She took a breath, and before she could open her mouth to speak again, Naruto his face towards her and glared at her with an incredibly serious face. His eyes were shadowed over, but she could still see the fury within the single blue eyes exposed to her.

Her words were caught in her throat, and she became unable to speak. She hadn't seen him glare at him in such a… Vicious way. Before she got the courage to speak again, Naruto was out of the door and slammed it on his way out. Suddenly, the knot in her throat released itself and she sighed, a headache forming.

"He's going to get himself in trouble one day…" Karin said as she walked up behind her mother and rubbed her shoulder soothingly. "I understand that he wants to protect Ara-Chan, but I'm afraid that he's going to do something really rash one day…" Karin spoke.

Kizura couldn't help but agree.

 **The Next Morning**

Naruto and Karin stood outside of the academy, Karin with a big smile on her face, and Naruto with a nervous frown. Naruto wore what he wore usually as his Shinobi attire. His katana hung on his back as always.

Karin wore a dark red kimono with black straps on her arms and legs. She hadn't started her Kenjutsu training, so she had no weapons on her at all.

"Ready Naruto-Kun!" Karin asked with a thumbs up. Naruto sheepishly shrugged his shoulders and chuckled. Before he could speak, however, Karin grabbed him by the ears and began to drag him towards the academy doors.

"Arghh, Karin-Chan, slow down! Arghhhh!"

* * *

 **Okay! I managed to do it before my trip! Here you are. Hope you enjoy it. Please leave a review, if you can. I've really enjoyed the reviews I've gotten so far. As for the Spanish reviewer, I appreciate your information, but in my story, that's how Konoha's Hokage position functions. I appreciate the review though :)**

 **And before anyone complains about 6 and a half-year-old Naruto 'beating' Kakashi, I'm sure you realized that Kakashi wasn't even attacking back, right? Or even blocking, really. That was what allowed Naruto to come up with his strategy. I'll tell you now, that if Kakashi was trying, he would have demolished the small blot of Sunshine with ease. As for when he was 8... Wouldn't be AS easy.**

 **But you'll see what I mean soon. Review! I'll be back in two weeks!**

 **Also, lemme know who you think Naruto saw at the waterfall! And if yout think he was a figment of Naruto's information or not! See ya!**


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